Ash Like Snow
by Noiz Viruz
Summary: When he woke up after fighting a rebellion group like them, he found himself in a place where in such emotions he'd never felt before all his life. Will he be able to leave after having been attached to her? please read and review!
1. A Fateful Meeting

A Fateful Meeting

_Flowers_. He can smell sweet scents of flowers. He is not familiar of those beautiful things. In his homeland, they merely grow in such a deserted place like Middle East. Though some random flowers grow in that land, they already withered before he _knew_. Flowers are beautiful things. But he doesn't have time to appreciate those _kinds of things_ in his way of life and the same goes for their names. He can smell flowers but didn't know what kind and he doesn't care.

As he opened his eyes, there is white. His head is a bit dizzy that affects his vision. The images are blurred but he can tell he's in a room of white painted walls. He can feel the gentle breeze that mixes with the sweet scents of flowers. _Where is the wind coming from?_ He never believed in God but is he dead? Is he in some kind of purgatory as the bible says? He is not in heaven, that's for sure. For someone like him who took lives to eradicate wars for the sake of peace and harmony all over the world. He _must_, be in hell to pay all his doings that make the others suffer and got hurt. But this place is too good for hell and too good to be heaven. Is he in the in-between? As he struggles to determine where he is, memories of the war between a rebel group like them, flashed back in his mind.

-(00 x R2)-

"Sumeragi-san, what will we do?" Allelujah asked as they watched on the big screen before them.

A rebel group who called themselves Order of the Black Knights, led by a mysterious masked man named Zero, was declaring war against the Holy Empire of Brittania. They fight for the state of their country, Japan, who is under control of the Brittanians and switched the country's name into Area 11. The rebels are fighting for their rights and nationality as Japanese people, not mere elevens.

"We don't have things like Veda anymore…" Sumeragi said and shook her head. "…And Tieria's dead…"

They all fell silent for a minute, a sort of salutation towards their previous meister's heroic death. Tieria may lose his body but his soul is linked to Veda. Knowing that guy when he's still alive, he prioritizes Veda more than anything and speaks highly of it. He must be happy wherever he is.

"We are Celestial Being…" Setsuna suddenly said that everyone inside the room looked at him. "…Our mission is to eradicate wars…" he continued and eyed the masked man named Zero on the screen, who is announcing to build their own United States of Japan. "…And this guy is only thinking of himself" he said sternly. The others didn't get his last part so as Setsuna, but he really have bad dibs on that Zero guy.

"Setsuna's right" Lockon said and grinned. "That Black Knights are starting and asking for war."

"But, aren't they rebels like us?" Allelujah said. "I mean, they are fighting for equal rights and peace for their country…"

"Yes, they are rebels like us but Celestial Being is on a different level" Setsuna said sharply. "Their methods are very selfish like their arrogant leader."

They all stare in him with incredulous expressions.

"Ahahaha…must be Setsuna's Innovator powers" Lockon joked to cleared up the weird mood. _What's up with this guy?_

"Y-yeah…" Allelujah gave a suppressed laugh.

Setsuna is still glaring on the screen, making his companions feels uneasier.

"So Sumeragi-san, what's the plan?" Lockon beamed to lighten the heavy atmosphere caused by Setsuna's scary weird antics.

"Eh?" Sumeragi snapped out of her thoughts of Setsuna's weird behavior. "E-eto…here's the plan…"

-(00 x R2)-

"Targets eliminated…" Setsuna said after defeating twelve Knightmare Frames in just three minutes. "…Phase two complete. Mission success."

"Good job Setsuna, you can go back to Ptolemaios now" Feldt said with a smile on her face in the small screen.

He hasn't gotten far away from the scene, when a red Knightmare Frame suddenly attacked him. Setsuna quickly dodge and they exchange weapons against each other. His eyebrows twitched. _This one is good…but he's no match for my Gundam!_

"Setsuna, what's wrong?" Feldt asked worriedly.

"A red Knightmare Frame is attacking me and its unit's strength is completely different from the others" he said as he defend his self and move his other hand to attack, but the red knightmare frame broke his defense and clawed his head.

"Die" a girl's voice said and light energy emitted in the palm of her big claw. _His unit looks cool too but it's a pity that it will be blow up into pieces_. But to her surprise it didn't bloat like it's supposed to, instead the energy she released was sucked up. _W-what the hell?_

"You…" Setsuna gnashed and pull out his hidden light saber on his leg and slashed Kallen's arm. The impact made her fell on the ground. He removed Kallen's claw on his head and snapped it into two. "…Don't underestimate my Gundam!"

He held his light saber on the air to slice her unit apart, when a firing beam hit on his direction as he quickly dodge it. An ordinary Knightmare Frame is interfering from afar and keeps shooting at him.

"Zero!" Kallen exclaimed in happiness.

"Zero?" _So that guy is fighting too?_ But the way he moves his unit is too immature and his shooting skills always missed. _This guy is nothing but a mere arrogant human being who wants power!_ His attention focused on the _scrawny_ Knightmare Frame unit and moved forward to attacked him.

"Kallen now!" Zero shouted.

Kallen quickly stood up and rolled her feet towards Setsuna, and pushed him off the cliff.

Setsuna fell and try to move his Gundam on air but Kallen stabbed him on the part that makes his controlling system gone haywire. His GN particles are running out and Trans-Am mode is impossible without the controls. He and his gundam continue to fall until they hit the seawater and drift down.

-(00 x R2)-

"Oh~ you're awake" a sweet voice said.

He looks at the person leaning on him and as his visions became clearer, he saw a pair of beautiful amethyst eyes gazing on him. A young girl with long pink hair that curls on the end, is smiling at him. Her lips are rosy and she has a milky skin tone that contrasts on his tan skin.

"An angel?" he said and was surprised when the girl suddenly broke into laughter. "You're a funny one…" she giggles.

His eyes roam around. He can see luxurious furniture and paintings hanging on the wall. In every corner are beautiful antique vases full of pretty flowers. There is an open grand balcony, where the wind is coming from. Outside were a large garden of gorgeous flowers and a breath taking landscape on the background, all under the clear blue sky. _So I'm not dead yet…_

"Where am I?" he asked.

"You're in my house…"

"What's the location of this place?"

"We're in the higher border of the Holy Empire of Brittania inside Area 11" she answered appropriately.

He lifts his self up but pain swarm all over his upper body. "Don't move too much or your wounds will open up" she said and asked him to lye down and relax.

"H-how did I get here?" he asked and wince a bit from the pain on his right shoulder.

"We found you lying on the shore…"

-(00 x R2)-

As he continue to drift deeper into the sea, his eyes suddenly change color and like a miracle, he can move again his gundam and got control on the system. He blasted off and reached above the surface. The communication system got broke and he also lost his location transmitter system. He doesn't know where he was as he moved to search a good hiding place to fix his mobile suit.

Setsuna landed in some deep forest and turn the camouflage system to hide his gundam and he took off.

He reached the end of the forest and found the shore. A group of soldiers spotted him and shoot fire on him. He exchanged gunshots with them as they chased him back inside the forest. As he run, he accidentally slipped and rolled down on some steeply slope and landed on the shore again with cuts and bruises all over his body.

-(00 x R2)-

"Your shoulder is bleeding…" she said as she gently touch his bandaged right shoulder. "We need to patch it up or your wound will open again."

As she patches up the shot on his right shoulder, Setsuna watch her soft, smooth slender fingers; brush on his skin while she wrapped up his wound. He looked at her sweet angelic face and those beautiful amethyst eyes.

"Who are you?" he suddenly asked.

She looked back at him in the eye that makes him feel he doesn't want her to keep her eyes off him.

"Gomene, I forgot to introduce myself" she said and giggles. "You really surprised me earlier. Thinking it would be the first words that came from your mouth when you woke up, it makes me kinda flattered."

Setsuna directly gets what she said and blushed. "J-just forget it. My head is a bit dizzy then, and it wasn't expected."

She just smiled at him. "I am Euphie."

"Euphie…" he whispers softly as he phrase her name. "My name is Setsuna."

"Setsuna? What an odd name…" she said and giggles innocently. Her laugh didn't give any offends. "But you're not a Japanese right, Setsuna_-kun_?"

"Yes, you're correct. And you're a Brittanian right?"

"Hai! You're right, Setsuna_-kun_!" she replied gaily.

_This girl…_She didn't address the Japanese people into Elevens like the other Brittanians. He was kinda relieved and somehow _glad_ that she was the one who found him. _She is different…_He can tell in her amethyst eyes that she's a kind person and can be trusted. He's in a safe place for _now_ but he needs to go back into the forest and fixed his gundam.

"I will make some tea…" she said and went to the corner to get some teacups from the shelf.

Setsuna gazed back on the clear blue sky from the balcony. He needs time to completely recover. From the state of his body, it will take more than a week or three to heal and regain his strength. He needs to contact Ptolemaios as soon as possible to inform them his whereabouts and the location of his gundam, for now he needs some rest.

Euphie got back with a bread and tea and placed it on the table near him. She helps him to sit up and handed him a cup of jasmine tea.

"Here, say ahhh…" Euphie mouthed while reaching bread to his mouth.

"I-I can do it myself…" Setsuna said, kinda embarrassed but keeps his stoic expression.

"Demo, you are holding your tea cup and you can't either move your right arm…" she pouted cutely.

"But I really can do it and I don't want to trouble you more…"

"Oh no!" Euphie suddenly exclaimed. "How stupid of me! You can't eat solid foods, I must have prepared a soup or porridge…"

"There's no need to…I'm not _that_ sick and I can digest it…" he said but Euphie is already on her way to the door.

"Wait for me, I will bring the _precise_ food that you can eat" she said and closed the door.

He just stares on the door. _She's not listening to me at all…_

Setsuna didn't realize a smile was forming on to his lips. Unknown to him, this is the beginning of an emotion that over rules the mind and heart of a person that can lead to happiness or _death_.

-(x0x0x0)-

**A/N:** My very first cross over fic. I've been thinking of writing Setsuna but I don't want to pair him up with other Gundam 00 females though I'm a big SetsuMari fan. It's just that, there's a huge age gap between them. I know "Age Doesn't Matter" but in my opinion I think it only applies for men. Maybe one, two or three is enough but eight years? Come on! That's too much! (for a girl)

And Feldt? It's not that I don't like her but I think she's more suited with Lockon (Neil Dylandy).

Until I came up to write a cross over instead, and Lacus Clyne suddenly popped out from my head as an ideal heroine in this story. I really like her character and I'm a big fan of her. It will be like _Gundam to Gundam_ but I think the timeline and cases of each series is difficult and it will conflict the story.

And I remember an article from one of my anime magazines collection; it's like a cross over section, which the characters fight each other. One issue features Lacus Clyne vs. Euphemia Li Brittania. They didn't fight physically like you think but in the story they are asked what peace means for them. They are in some kind of a party and the crowd will vote for the best answer. In the end, they tied and congratulate each other. To think of it, both girls have similarities to each other (aside from the hair, of course) and if you read that issue, you will agree with me.

I decided to go for Euphie and I think Code Geass' plot would add great twists on the story. And this is also my first fic that contains lot of action, (for me) so I'm really nervous but I would like to concentrate more on the romance (coz this is really the genre of this fic). I have lots of ideas and really excited on this one. So please read and review minna~!


	2. A Wish

A Wish

It was a beautiful sunny morning. The sound of the chirping birds flying above the clear blue sky along with the white drifting clouds. He rests his hands on the white marble terrace. This kind of morning was a great opportunity for someone like him to experience. Being in space all the time, hiding and planning for the next move in order to fulfill their missions. The sound of the firing beams, clashing of weapons, explosions from destroyed units, and agony for the lost lives; remnants of war, making the sky dark among with the pain or victory… This place is entirely different from his.

"Ah, Setsuna-kun you're awake" a sweet cheerful voice said. A girl with fair complexion holding a basket of fresh flowers, waved at him. Her long pink curly locks sways along with the morning breeze. She looks like a garden fairy with enchanting amethyst eyes. "Ohayo~"

"O-ohayo" he greeted back as she skips towards him. Euphie stared at him peculiarly while holding her chin. "Is there something wrong?"

"Iye, nandemonai~" she replied and went to put the flowers in the vases.

As they're eating their breakfast, he noticed that Euphie keeps glancing at him. Those pair of probing amethyst eyes really makes him uncomfortable.

"I'm glad Onii-sama's clothes fits on you" she giggled as she detect his uneasiness.

"Onii…sama?" Five days has past since he got his consciousness and Euphie was the only one he regularly sees along with some random servants. He hasn't leaved this room except for the garden outside his balcony. Setsuna could tell that Euphie wasn't just an ordinary person, the grand structure of this place not to mention the garden, resembles a palace like the one on Azadistan but the architecture and widths are different. The number of servants and every thing shows an odd luxury. She isn't just some daughter of rich business tycoon or an heiress of a wealthy family. _Sama?_ So she had an older brother and addressed him in a highly manner, but where is he? And her other family members?

"Nii-sama was on Brittania to assist Otou-sama at some important matters" Euphie grinned as she guessed his thoughts. "You must be wondering why I am always here to attend you" she said with a smile and looked at him tenderly.

"Sort of" he said plainly. Euphie giggled at his usual stoic reaction. She could tell that he is really not that sociable in just the past five days. Somehow, it really amuses her.

"Someone who is very precious to me has died and he's the reason I'm here in Japan" she began and Setsuna could see the pain and hatred in her amethyst eyes. "My older brother and sister resides here before, but due to some circumstances they had to leave me in this place."

"Is that why you're constantly here when you can just ask one of your servants to look after me?"

"Eh?" Euphie blinks in his sharp tone. _Is__he__angry?__Did__she__say__something__wrong?_ But she can see a glint of sympathy in his cold golden-brown eyes. "Well, it's lonely when you aren't with your loved ones and the first friend that I'd made in this country is getting busy recently" she puffed. "Getting left behind while waiting, is very lonely."

"Euphie…" Her usual jovial face turns into an odd glum.

"And you're my guest so it's natural for me, the host, to take good care of you" she beamed. "Anyway, how about we go out?"

"Eh?" His eyes widen when Euphie linked their arms and drag him.

"People who just came from sickness needs fresh air, and it's a beautiful weather today" she grinned. "You've been stuck here so you must be bored…"

"W-well, not really…"

"You can completely move now your right arm neh~? And your other injuries are quite healed, moreover you can walk properly now neh~?" she blabbered excitedly with her eyes sparkling.

He sighed. _She__'__s__not__listening__to__him__again__…_ Anyway, he can used this chance to contact Ptolemaios.

-(00 x R2)-

"What are we doing IN HERE?"

She looked at him incredulously and burst into a demure laughter. "We're gonna go shopping, silly."

The mall was not really an ideal place for him to get some fresh air but fortunately it was not crowded today. Euphie had pulled him inside at some department store and start picking some clothes on the men's section.

"I think this navy blue shirt looks good on Setsuna-kun" she said and placed it on him. "And this baby blue top too."

"Euphie, you don't need to…" he hasn't yet finishes his sentence when Setsuna realized he was already carrying a pile of clothes.

"We will take all of that" she said bluntly with a grin to the attending saleslady. "Don't worry Setsuna-kun, those clothes are the same sizes like Onii-sama's since both of you has a similar body built."

"Thanks Euphie, but I think this is too much…"

"Ah! That black suit really looks cool~!" she exclaimed and skipped towards the formal attire section. "Whoa~ this is really classy and stylish at the same time, neh Setsuna-kun, try this one!"

Before he could deny, Euphie had pushed him to the fitting room along with the said stylish attire. He eyed it peculiarly before he went to change.

After a while, she gapes in astonishment when Setsuna draw back the curtain and reveal his white unbuttoned collar, the fitted black formal suit, and a sleek black necktie hanging around his neck. The salesladies and other female shoppers blushed and squeal.

"I'm sorry, I don't know how to wear this thing" he said while caressing the tip of the sleek piece of fabric with his fingers.

"Eh~ Setsuna-kun you look so cool~!" she exclaimed as she clap and locked both of her hands with glittering admiration stars on her eyes.

He stiffened as he sense the odd gazes on him. Girls are looking at him in some kind of manner while giggling. _Does__he__really__look__that__funny__because__he__doesn__'__t__know__how__to__wear__a__necktie?_

"Setsuna-kun is really catching a lot of attention~" Euphie said as she fixes his necktie and pulled him closer. His uneasiness became more severe on the proximity of their faces. "But I don't want fan girls following around us so go get change."

After they paid all the items, she quickly dragged him away. "Euphie, we had left behind all the clothes in that store…"

"It's okay Setsuna-kun, someone will go get it for us" she said while pulling him until they arrived at some arcade game station. "Let's play~!"

-(00 x R2)-

"Targets eliminated" Setsuna said coolly as he completed the last stage of some virtual shooting game. Even though it's a hard level, he just finished it easily without getting dead. "Whoa~ Sugoi Setsuna-kun!"

The other gamers gapes in awe and astonishment.

"How did he do that?"

"No one had ever finished the final stage that quick!"

"It's a hard level too!"

Euphie promptly draw him out from the forming crowd around them. The others tried to play the game but they easily lose. They reached at some mini park outside the mall.

"Setsuna-kun is just like onii-sama" Euphie puffed as they sit on the wooden bench. "Always getting a lot of attention wherever he goes, it's really a hassle."

"I'm sorry if I get you in trouble but I don't understand what you mean."

She sighed. "And your naivety to the obvious is the same as onii-sama" she pouted and his eyebrows knotted. He couldn't understand what she's talking about and her cute pouting face is really distracting.

"But you enjoyed today, neh~?" she beamed with her angelic smile.

"Yes." A small smile formed on his lips as Euphie jumped on excitement while pointing at the sky. "A shooting star! Quick! Make a wish!" she exclaimed and closed her eyes while locking her hands like praying.

Setsuna just stare at her. He never believed in such things. Fantasies never exist in his reality. Maybe he believed once when he was a kid, but he awakens because of the cruelty of this world. Euphie was still an innocent kid.

"Neh Setsuna-kun what did you wish?"

"Nothing, I don't believe in wishes" he said bluntly.

"Is that so?" she said with a smile. Setsuna was visibly the kind of person who doesn't believe in such childish things. A matured one yet she finds it boring living with an outlook like him. "I wish for a peaceful world where we can live in harmony and learn to understand each other."

Her amethyst eyes show thoughtfulness and longing… She was open minded about the twisted reality of this world where usually normal girls at her age only cares on fetish stuffs.

"It will definitely happen someday" Setsuna said determinedly and Euphie saw the resolve in his stoic tangerine eyes. She smiled tenderly and holds his hand as she placed it on her chest. "Eu-euphie…" he utters embarrassedly.

"Setsuna-kun had the same wish as me" she said affectionately. "I don't know why but my chest feels lighter…" He can feel her heartbeat and gently intertwine their hands together as he brings it on his chest. The young pink haired girl was slightly surprised and she can feel the blood rushed on her cheeks.

"Do you still feel alone?" he asked.

She tilted her head and smiled warmly. "Not anymore." Setsuna looked above the sky and wonders where did the shooting star falls. He never thought the sky was this starry and beautiful unlike when you're in space. Euphie closed her eyes and feels his warm hand and heartbeat. The emptiness inside their hearts was filled by each other because of a wish.

-(x0x0x0)-

-Yay~! I finally updated this one! This chapter has been stuck in my notebook and I can't find time to type it. I'm busier than before so it's gonna take another long time to update this fic but still I really want to continue this one. I hope you enjoy reading this and reviews are always welcome~! Domo arigato!


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